January 5/11 9:20 am - Cycling (in the) News

Posted by Editoress on 01/5/11

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. - Ernest Hemingway

Hesjedal brings Tour to VictoriaThey are the hometown roads that Ryder Hesjedal pedalled en route to two Summer Olympics and a seventh-place finish in the 2010 Tour de France.

And now he's inviting the public to experience them with him.

On May 28th the international cycling star (will) lead the first annual Tour de Victoria. Read more: Times Colonist

Veteran cyclist Longo-Ciprelli hints at retirementFormer Olympic and world champion Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli is struggling to find the motivation to keep cycling.

The 52-year-old French veteran told Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday that she is "a bit tired psychologically" and is not sure she will compete in 2011. Read more: American Chronicle

War, floods and cancer: Armstrong's new perspectiveIn his first newspaper interview since July, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong reminds Rupert Guinness that life’s about more than just the bike.

Lance Armstrong has just got on the phone from his Hawaiian training base before the last international bike race of his career, the Tour Down Under. He barely pauses after a quick hello before inquiring about the floods in Queensland. There is urgency in his voice.

"First of all, how is the flooding down there?" he asks. Told of the devastation, tragedy and massive challenges that await the survivors of the floods, Armstrong sighs. "Unbelievable … "Read more: Sydney Morning Herald

Irish Rail to allow bikes on trainsIrish Rail is to allow passengers to bring bikes on off-peak Dart and commuter trains for the first time.

The company is also set to introduce an online booking system for transporting bikes on intercity trains.Read more: Inside Ireland

Pendleton does not believe she's spreading herself too thinOlympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton is broadening her horizons in time for London 2012 but she admits she will not become a jack - or jill - of all trades and a master of none.

With a women's keirin and a team sprint introduced to the Olympic programme for the first time in London 2012 Pendleton will get her wish and have three shots at gold on home soil.Read more: More Than the GamesSee also: Mail Online

Verdict on Contador case delayed until February?As if the case had not dragged on for long enough already, reports in the Spanish media on Wednesday claim that a verdict on Alberto Contador's case could now be delayed until at least February.Read more: Cycling Weekly

Coalition Aims To Improve Area’s Urban CyclingIt’s one of the great ironies of Redding. It’s a city blessed with a spectacular bike and pedestrian trail network along the Sacramento River. It’s a place surrounded by seemingly endless numbers of mountain bike trails. However, the city itself is an awful urban environment for riding a bike or walking.

A new citizen’s group wants to help change that latter part.Read more: A News Cafe

Long Beach bike-registration challengedLong Beach claims it's America's most "bicycle-friendly" city. But riders say officials are enforcing a little-known law that makes it tough on them, and could cost Long Beach that unofficial title. The wheels are in motion to change those regulations.

The NYPD has been ordered to begin a borough-wide crackdown that will hit renegade riders for often-overlooked “vehicular offenses” like failing to obey traffic signals and signs, breaking the speed limit, tailgating, and even failure to signal before turning.Read more: The Brooklyn Paper

So it was a natural transition for the 53-year-old Hamilton custodian to consider riding in the kingdom of winter wonderlands - Yellowstone National Park. He enlisted his friend and bike shop owner, Chad DeVall, to take part in the adventure.

“I thought it sounded like a ... good idea,” DeVall said. “Being in Montana the first thing you think of is Yellowstone Park.”Read more: Billings Gazette

Cyclist returns home after injuryAfter cycling over 6,000 kilometres, a knee injury forced a Rossland man to “cut short” an eco-bike trip to Costa Rica but despite being laid up, he continues to support the group that pedals on.

He set out from Ontario in July with four other cyclists ranging in ages from 22 to 26 with a plan to bicycle across North and Central America. Almost halfway through, he was waylaid with knee problems and returned to his home in Rossland a week before Christmas. Read more: Trail Daily Times

Joe Papp's sentencing delayed, againJoe Papp, the former cyclist whose online marketing of performance-enhancing substances enmeshed several professional and amateur riders in doping cases, had his own sentencing on federal drug charges delayed a third time.Read more: ESPN

Adventure Cycling opposes proposed "big rigs" routeThe largest cycling membership group in North America is being added to the list of groups opposing the the shipment of "big rigs" through Idaho and Montana.

The Adventure Cycling Association, which is headquartered in Missoula, says the shipments would affect hundreds of miles of bike routes used by thousands of cyclists every year. Read more: KAJ 18

Making Olympic champion Julien Absalon's mountain bikeIt costs the same as a small car and can take 18 months to design but the mountain bike that Olympic champion Julien Absalon rides represents the cutting edge of cycling technology.

The BBC's Kieran Fox went to northern Spain to meet the people from Team Absalon to find out whether it is man or machine that delivers Olympic gold.

'No pressure' on Phinney in 2011American Taylor Phinney switched from track to road cycling in 2010, and made his major-race debut at the World Championships -- where he won the U-23 time trial title.

American Taylor Phinney switched from track to road cycling in 2010, and made his major-race debut at the World Championships -- where he won the U-23 time trial title.

This year, however, the 20-year-old who switched from Team RadioShack to BMC will start with a much busier schedule that includes the Tours of Qatar and Oman, Paris-Nice and the Tour of California, plus some spring classics. Read more: Universal Sports

Bike Bill Would Raise the Bar for Drivers and CyclistsRep. Jamie Pedersen (D-43) has proposed legislation that would require both bicyclists and drivers to use roads more responsibly around each other. The PI’s description of bicyclists’ responsibilities in the bill tripped my trigger a little-according to their report, the bill would require cyclists to “ride as near to the right or left side of the streets” as possible. That can be dangerous when the right side of the street is a line of parked cars (and opening doors).Read more: Publicola

A Bike Shop For CommutersBrooklyn Bike and Board is a local hot spot for residents dedicated to cycling.

It will save you money and get you into shape – what better time than the beginning of the new year to take up cycling?

Sure, it's cold out, but the pros at Brooklyn Bike and Board, at 560 Vanderbilt Avenue, will help outfit you with the best bike equipment for your needs.Read more: The Patch

SFMTA Installs Four New Bike CorralsMore city businesses and their cycling customers are enjoying new on-street bike parking after the SFMTA installed four recently approved corrals, repurposing four parking spots for motor vehicles with forty-six spots for bicycles. A total of nine have been installed since the bike injunction was lifted last August.“As you can see, it hasn’t even been a week and each rack has a bike on it.”

“As you can see, it hasn’t even been a week and each rack has a bike on it,” said Nicole Cooper, manager of Timbuk2 in Hayes Valley, who was very pleased with the results. “I see more bikes, less people asking, ‘Hey, can I just drop my bike off in here?"Read more:

Ending The War on the Car: How Cyclists Might Talk To Conservatives and DriversThe phrase "war on the car" was common in Toronto, Canada whenever a bike lane was installed or new dedicated streetcar lanes proposed. The war quieted down for a while, until the new Mayor rode the meme to victory over bike-riding pinko kooks. Eric De Place at Sightline Daily traces the etymology of the phrase, and found references going back to 1998, but notes that it has generally been limited in use to Toronto and Seattle. But, as in Toronto, it seems to be gaining strength again in Seattle and even nationally. Now it has jumped the Atlantic to the UK, where it is called the War on the Motorist.Read more: Tree Hugger

Bike Lanes Make Me Hornby, say the T-shirts sold by Vision Vancouver, the mayor’s party, in reference to the new separated bike lanes on Hornby St. in Vancouver’s city centre.

That Vancouver is being run by a mayor who cycles to meetings is well-known to residents who elected him two years ago. So it is no surprise that under him, bike lanes have been given high priority in the city, prompting one local paper to call this the “year of the bike.”

But while bike lanes are clearly changing the look of downtown, they are also being met with a rise in criticism over whether the city is becoming too bike-friendly. Read more: Toronto Star